Dog Spotlight
Kip
Breed: Border Collie
Owner: Tyler Caldwell
Our first featured dog this week is Kip, a six-year-old border collie. English instructor Tyler Caldwell owns Kip, but he frequently spends time in Webster Hall with his owner’s twin sister, history instructor Alexa Caldwell. At his home in Soule Hall, Kip enjoys playing fetch and snacking on discarded pizza crusts in the common room. Although pizza is a favorite of Kip’s, Alexa Caldwell said that really “anything he can find on the floor” will do.
More than anything, Kip enjoys being one with nature. “He loves to run through the woods. He also loves our parents’ house in Vermont because he can be outside all day,” Tyler Caldwell said.
When asked what other animals Kip likes to play with on campus, Alexa Caldwell replied, “The boys in Soule Hall.” Kip does have a few canine friends on campus including Pete, English instructor Kelly Flynn’s dog, and two features from the last “Dog Spotlight,” Dolly Bubbles (owned by Patty Burke) and Oliver (owned by Lundy Smith). However, if he were given the choice, Kip would much rather spend time with humans. “He is an ideal boarding school dog,” Tyler Caldwell said. “He loves seeing the students on campus.”
Ollie & Luna
Ollie's Breed: Terrier Mix
Luna's Breed: Black Lab and Chow Chow
Owner: Jennifer Marx Asch
Two more fluffy friends here on campus are Ollie and Luna. They are owned by Rabbi Marx Asch, and they live in Dunbar Hall. Both Ollie and Luna are rescue dogs, so Marx Asch does not know their exact age, but guesses they are both around eight years old. Ollie is a terrier mix and Luna is a black lab and chow chow mix.
Ollie and Luna’s favorite thing to do around Exeter is “walk the South Quad, especially near Elm Street to look for discarded ice cream cones,” Marx Asch said. She adds that “outside Wentworth and Webster is usually good for a pizza crust.”
Marx Asch believes that having a dog on campus is different from having a dog away from school because here the dogs cannot be left unleashed inside of a yard with an invisible fence. They have to be walked. She said this leads to “never-ending arguments amongst my children about who’s turn it is to walk the dogs.”
Ollie’s favorite snacks are practically anything on the ground. “He loves eating cheese wrappers, paper napkins, empty peanut butter jars and other trash,” she said. “He resembles a tater tot. Although, for a couch potato, he loves to play ball.”
Marx Asch added that the crumbs on the floor of the Dunbar common room satisfy Luna and Ollie’s voracious appetites. “Luna will stand at the door of our faculty apartment and whimper to go out into the common room when she hears students out there,” Marx Asch explained.
Luna is also great at being a dog therapist. “Whenever I have a sad student talking with me in my study, Luna cuddles with her on my couch. Rubbing Luna’s belly makes you feel better.” She said that Ollie is “really sweet with his family, and a great snuggler.” These two sweet Dun-dogs—dogs who live in Dunbar Hall—brighten up both their dorm and the Exeter campus!